There’s no magic contest length, but I’d say you want to be aiming for anything between 1-2 weeks to give you time to promote your contest and get enough entries in.

You could even experiment with “flash” giveaways lasting just a day or two.

Anything longer, and people lose interest or forget.

4. Promote your contest

Now you’re ready to go. Your contest is all set up, but how will you get entries?

Here are a few ways to promote your contest:

Offer bonus entries for social shares: This is an awesome way to boost entrants and it’s even baked right into KingSumo, making it super easy to reward people who share your contest with more chances to win.This is also how you grow your social media following! Give bonus entries if people follow you on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter

Message your lists: If you already have an email list, a Slack community, or even a bunch of subscribers on Facebook Messenger, send a message out about your contest. Here’s an example message promoting a contest:

Promote on social media: Your followers on social media are highly likely to be interested in your giveaway, so sharing it to your social channels is a no-brainer.But if you want to reach new audiences, try sharing in Facebook Groups, using new hashtags on Twitter and Instagram. or even finding relevant subreddits to post. Top tip: always make your posts relevant to each audience, just like Sam Jeffries:

Pro tip: Check each social network for any guidelines on how you can promote giveaways on their channels. For example, “share to win” contests are no longer allowed by Facebook.

Ready to launch an awesome social media contest?

So there we have it, how to launch a social media contest in just 4 simple steps:

Set an objective

Choose prize(s)

Set up your contest

Promote your contest

And before we leave, here’s one more bonus tip…

BONUS: Ensure everyone’s a winner

Once your social media contest or giveaway is over, announce the winners as soon as possible.

To make even the non-winners happy, the trick is to provide all entrants with something that makes them feel special. This could be:

Free download (content upgrade, eBook, or more)

Discount code

The chance to be entered into the next giveaway for free

For example, in one of our recent giveaways, everyone who entered received a bunch of discount codes just for entering — this way, no one leaves empty handed.

And it drove a TON of sales!

Ready to launch your own social media contest giveaway?

Take the steps outline in this giveaway, and use the free social media contest platform KingSumo to get started!